Nexen shutting down Long Lake oilsands operation

OREANDA-NEWS. September 04, 2015. Nexen Energy will shut down its Long Lake oil sands operations to comply with a pipeline suspension order issued by provincial regulators.

The Calgary, Alberta-based subsidiary of Chinese state-owned CNOOC said the process of shutting in production at the steam assisted gravity drainage operation will take until mid-September.

"We're managing the risks associated with safely shutting down this complex and integrated facility and, to our best estimate, the process will take up to two weeks to complete," the company told Argus.

Nexen would not speculate how long operations would be suspended.

On 28 August, the Alberta Energy Regulator ordered Nexen to cease operating 95 pipelines at the Long Lake site. The suspension followed a review of Nexen's internal audit of its pipeline integrity management system which showed non-compliant activities around pipeline monitoring and maintenance.

The company has been under fire since 15 July when it discovered what would soon become known as one of the largest land-based oil-related spills in Canadian history, a 31,000 bl emulsion leak.

Nexen said it was complying with the order, providing necessary documentation and voluntarily shutting its Long Lake operations.

The thermal facility produced approximately 25,000 b/d off a 75,000 b/d capacity.